Halfling

Let Him Lie To Us All

She prefers the quiet,

brilliant company

of stars.

They gaze upon her,

beaming silent

acceptance.

Unconditional.

Unwavering.

They are always there.

Every night,

in the sky.

I sat on the edge of the cliff waiting for one of them to say something, anything really. Not a word had been spoken in ten minutes and yet I sit here staring up at the stars and letting the sounds of waves calm my nerves. I can feel them staring at the back of my head like they are trying to solve a puzzle or gather the information needed to see if my story is true. Sadly, none of it is a lie but obviously someone has been.

"Are you going to stare all night or speak? If you are going to just sit there then I am finding my way home."

Dwayne was the first to come sit next to me. He held his hand out slowly as though I was a scared but ready to pounce wild animal that needed reassurance.

Dwayne: "I would like to try something. It is just a small touch, and that will be all."

I nodded slowly not too sure what he was meaning. I felt his hand lay flat on my shoulder and in an instant, the electricity was back causing my heart to skip a few beats. He turned behind us and nodded.

"What is going on?"

Dwayne: "We believe you have a connection to us but we are trying to see if it is all of us."

With that, he stood up and joined his brothers back in the line behind me. I stood up and turned to them. Dwayne and David looked highly confused while the other two seemed to be having a hard time keeping some pent up excitement in. I moved to Marko and slowly laid my hand on his chest. The sparks flew from my fingertips to my heart. I jerked back and Marko only stood their beaming. I placed my hand on Paul's chest to only feel the same reaction. They all now stared at me in confusion and I know I was giving the same look back.

"What is going on? Please do not make me ask again."

Paul: "We believe you are our mate. All four. David felt it when you bumped into him and we all felt a pull to you but we had to test it to be sure."

David: "We need to talk to our head before we do anything."

It all hit me at once. I do not know if it was the small high finally fading away but I almost crashed into the ground. I slowly walked over to the edge and sat back down. My only friends were gone. I would never hear Jacy tell a joke just to mess up the punchline. I would never experience Double Trouble in action while pulling a prank on Maddox. And I would miss the childish man. Their bodies were still on the floor of the cave, for that I was sure by the lingering smell of iron in the air. The four men responsible for those deaths are vampires that I was told did not exist in this town. And now those four men were my mates? Mates had to be fake. They had to be. This is the kind of thing you read about or see in movies but not in real life.

Dwayne: "Are you okay?"

I went to look at the man crouched next to me but my head was spinning by now. I felt a rush of panic worse than I had been feeling. I could only stare at him wide eyed.

Dwayne: "The people you came with are gone now. Paul and Marko cleaned them up. I know this is a lot but it is going to be okay. I am not going to hurt you. None of us are going to hurt you."